Sleigh Ride
"Sleigh Ride" is a popular song usually associated with Christmas. It was originally written as an instrumental piece in 1946 by , who intended it to refer to any winter event, not specifically Christmas. Mitchell Parish added words later, as he did for several of Anderson's compositions. The most famous recording of it is by the , conducted by . Lyrics :Just hear those sleigh bells :Jingling ring ting tingling too :Come on it's lovely weather :For a sleigh ride together with you :Outside the snow is falling :And friends are calling yoo hoo :Come on it's lovely weather :For a sleigh ride together with you :Giddy up giddy up giddy up :Let's go let's look at the show :We're riding in a wonderland of snow :Giddy up giddy up giddy up :It's grand just holding your hand :We're gliding along with :A song of a wintry fairy land :Our cheeks are nice and rosy :And comfy cozy are we :We're snuggled up together :Like two birds of a feather would be :Let's take that road before us :And sing a chorus or two :Come on it's lovely weather :For a sleigh ride together with you :There's a birthday party :At the home of Farmer Gray :It'll be the perfect :Ending of a perfect day :We'll be singing the :Songs we love to sing :Without a single stop :At the fireplace while :We watch the chestnuts pop :Pop! pop! pop! :There's a happy feeling :Nothing in the world can buy :When they pass around :The coffee and the pumpkin pie :It'll nearly be like a :Picture print by :These wonderful things are the things :We remember all through our lives :Stanza reprised :It's lovely weather for a :Sleigh ride together with you :line repeated Recording history (Selected versions) *1949 – The Boston Pops' instrumental version was the original, but Leroy Anderson himself recorded a (slightly faster) instrumental version the following year. The Boston Pops have re-recorded it several times *1950 – Leroy Anderson. The Decca Gold Label Series singles (#16000), both 45 and 78 rpm, referenced above were not issued as individual records. They were part of the four-disc set Leroy Anderson Conducts His Own Compositions. Anderson would re-record the song in stereo in 1959. :::The Andrews Sisters – notable as the first known vocal recording of the tune. :::Merv Griffin with the Freddy Martin Orchestra *1954 – Bing Crosby with vocal backing by Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra (Decca 28463); Crosby recorded the song again in 1977 for his final album, Seasons. :::George Melachrino – Christmas in High Fidelity. The arrangement is more string-heavy; even the horse's whinny is done by the violins. *1955 – Walter Schumann – The Voices of Christmas *1956 – Jo Stafford – Ski Trails :::Spike Jones – A Xmas Spectactular :::Ferrante & Teicher - Adventures In Carols (Westminster LP; re-recorded in 1962's Snowbound) *1958 – Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas *1959 – Ray Conniff – Christmas with Conniff :::Andre Kostelanetz – Joy to the World: Music for Christmas. A similar arrangement to the Leroy Anderson and Boston Pops version, but moderately faster in speed and featuring a whistle in portions of the song. :::Hugo Winterhalter – Wish You Were Here *1960 – Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas *1961 – Mitch Miller – Holiday Sing-Along *1963 – The Ronettes - A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. An altered version with background vocals singing "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding" and excluding the "Giddy up giddy up giddy up let's go..." and "The birthday or Christmas party at the home of Farmer Gray..." portions. The same version was used in 2012 for Nickelodeon. :::Bert Kaempfert – Christmas Wonderland *1964 – Jack Jones – Christmas Album :::Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme – That Holiday Feeling :::The Ramsey Lewis Trio – More Sounds of Christmas *1965 – Al Hirt – The Sound of Christmas :::The Ventures – Christmas Album. A surf-style instrumental, similar in beat and arrangement to their biggest hit, "Walk Don't Run". It omits the "Farmer Gray" portion of the song. :::Andy Williams – Merry Christmas *1966 – The New Christy Minstrels – Christmas with the Christies *1968 – Herb Alpert – Christmas Album :::Robert Goulet – Wonderful World of Christmas *1969 – Boots Randolph – Boots and Stockings *1970 – Lawrence Welk – Merry Christmas *1971 – The Partridge Family – A Partridge Family Christmas Card *1977 – Burl Ives – Christmas by the Bay *1978 – The Carpenters – Christmas Portrait (This version mentions "Christmas party" instead of the usual "birthday party" in the bridge.) *1983 – Amy Grant – A Christmas Album *1987 – Fozzie Bear – in the television special A Muppet Family Christmas *1992 – Deborah Gibson (then known as Debbie Gibson)– A Very Special Christmas 2. (This version, based on the Ronettes version, featured the backup singers singing "Sleigh Ride...Sleigh Ride" instead of "Ring-a-ling-a-ling Ding-dong-ding") :::TLC – Home Alone 2: Lost in New York soundtrack (also on MTV's "TRL Christmas" album in 2001) :::Mel Tormé – Christmas Songs *1993 – Harry Connick, Jr. – When My Heart Finds Christmas :::Amy Grant – A Christmas Collection *1994 – Neil Diamond – The Christmas Album, Volume II :::Lorrie Morgan – Merry Christmas from London *1996 – Brian Setzer – from the movie Jingle All the Way :::Spice Girls – B Side of "2 Become 1" (similar to the Ronettes' version) *1999 – Garth Brooks – Garth Brooks and the Magic of Christmas (Re-recorded in 2001's Call Me Claus) :::Kenny G – Faith *2000 – The Three Tenors – The Three Tenors Christmas :Vanessa Williams – from the movie A Diva's Christmas Carol :::Billy Gilman (featuring Charlotte Church) – from the Christmas Album Classic Christmas *2001 — Hi-5 — It's A Hi-5 Christmas *2002 – Hilary Duff – Santa Claus Lane *2003 – Chicago – What's It Gonna Be, Santa? *2004 – Clay Aiken – Merry Christmas with Love Barenaked Ladies - from their album Barenaked for the Holidays, but they scat the whole thing. *2005 – JoJo – Performed a live version for President Bush at "Christmas in Washington" *2007 – KT Tunstall – A Target exclusive CD *2008 – Béla Fleck and the Flecktones – from the album Jingle All the Way, this rendition was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance *2014 – Pentatonix – That's Christmas to Me Explanations *Currier and Ives was a popular printing company in the 19th century. It closed in 1907, 39 years before the song was composed. *The horse whinny five bars at the end is made by a trumpet half-valve glissando. *The whip cracks are made by a percussionist, preferably with a slapstick, although rimshots are also acceptable. Category:Songs Category:Rankin/Bass songs Category:Wiggles songs Category:Muppet songs Category:Disney songs